Review: The Wicked Day - Christopher Bunn

Series: The Tormay Trilogy #3

Genre. Fantasy

Published: 2011

Source: For review

Review made by Lis

The third and final volume of the epic fantasy saga that began with The Hawk and His Boy, and continued with The Shadow at the Gate, The Wicked Day tells the conclusion of the story of Jute. Tracking the kidnappers of Giverny Farrow, Jute and his friends discover the Dark is on the march. Tormay teeters on the brink of war, and the duchies look to Jute as their last and best hope. But there is an ancient evil waking that even all the power of the wind cannot hope to defeat.

Remember my earlier squee over the Tormay trilogy? I’m back with some major squee in tow for the third and final book in the series. Once again I apologize for it being late. While the book entertained me all the way from Paris to Singapore, I got caught up in backpacking and therefore a lot late in reviewing. 

But back to the book here. When I got my hands on the first book, I was suprised how good a story this was for fantasy. While that hasn’t changed, the conclusion of the series does live up to one of the fantasy genre’s traps: the black and white theme of good versus evil. While it was always there throughout the series it is never more pronounced as in The Wicked Day. Not that it bothered me too much. 

The Wicked Day focuses once again on Jute and his companions as the track the kidnappers of Declan’s (Ronan) sister Giverny Farrow. It become more and more apparent that Tormay is on the brink of a big ass, unavoidable, war and it shows in the story itself. It’s very moving and there is always something going on. The story moves from one action to the next, from one battle scene to another and let me tell you, the battles are epic! At the same time this also a niggle for me, because so much is happening. It’s like watching a hamster on speed. It’s hard to keep up. At the same time the writing flourishes, because it’s not always easy to write so many descriptive scenes without the reader getting bored of it. 

Like in the previous books we see more of the characters and how they grow throughout the story. In this third books they undergo most of the change. My favorite has always been Jute, but there were occasions in this book that I just wanted to hit him over the head with a frying pan. While still lovable, there is a long struggle for him getting the hand of his power. Fortunately for the reader, when he does, it’s awesome. 

What also had me sit up and take notice (which is hard to do in airplane seats) was that Owain got more page time and what a treat it was. It was nice to see more of him. 

It’s not easy to review this book without giving to much away. What I can say is that this conclusion was perhaps the hardest to write because everything comes to a head. This shows a bit in the story as well. There are minor issues in the continuity of the story and there may have been a little plothole. Though it’s not so bad that it takes the reader away from the story in irritation or annoyance. 

All in all, this was a fine conclusion to a series and very well done. It’s a series I can most definitely recommend reading. Even in a cramped airplane! 

Review: The Shadow at the Gate - Christopher Bunn

Series: Tormay trilogy 2
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Pages: Ebook
Published: March 2011
Review by Lis

The second volume of the epic fantasy saga that began with The Hawk and His Boy takes us back to the story of the thief Jute. The emissaries of the Darkness have infiltrated the city of Hearne in search of him. Desperate to escape, the boy flees the city and heads into the wilderness of the north. But the ghosts of the past have other plans for him and, soon, Jute and his friends must choose between their own deaths or the destruction of the entire land. All the while, the mysterious lady Levoreth races against time in order to discover who is behind the schemes of the Darkness.

.....................................

Alright, I’m guilty. Upon receiving this second installment in the Tormay series, I settled myself in my comfy chair with tea and chocolate and read until it was finished. Then I got caught up in moving, job hunting (damn those jobs are elusive) and knights and the review for this splendid book got pushed to the background. Bad me, no cookie!

You sometimes hear how the middle book is usually the one that is the less fun in a trilogy because it either goes really bad good guys or nothing significant happens. Not true for The Shadow at the Gate. It immediately picks up where The Hawk and His Boy left of and to me brought matters into focus where in was building up in the first book.

It is quite the lengthy story and there is a lot happening, so you have to keep watch out so you don’t miss anything important. There is a lot of action too, that will keep you on the edge of your seat and the plot thickens at every point.

The story is still about Jute who has destiny riding him hard with ‘the Dark’ (the great big evil) right behind it. Despite that he is still the street-smart boy we met in the first book, though you can see that Jute grows throughout this book. Ronan “The Knife” also carries a big part of the story. His ‘secret’ is an important part of the story and I liked learning more about this intriguing character. You tend to want to dislike him because of his role, but at the same time not everything is as black and white and you find yourself drawn to him.

Apart from the cast of characters that were introduced in the first part of the series, in the second part quite a few more are added. Some intriguing, some not. Some good, some bad. In this you can see that it’s a fantasy novel. There is always quite an impressive cast of characters and while I always like meeting new characters in a story that have their own part to tell, it also hard to keep track of them all and their moves. It’s the trap of a good book: the more characters that are introduced, the more likely that the reader will get lost in a maze of characters. I found that this author handled it quite well. While there are too many characters for my liking, they are introduced well and are not cardboard characters. And the shifts in narratives are smoothly. Though Jute is still my favorite character!

As I mentioned, there is a lot happening in this book. There is a lot of growth and development in this book (okay that made me sound like a scientist!). It also grows increasingly darker. Like they say: “it’s always darkest before the dawn.” There are more villains apart from “The Dark” and they are sufficiently creepy.

The one thing I didn’t like about this book was the ending. While it’s not exactly a great big open end, it leaves things open for the third part and as many of you know: I’m not a patient person!

Overall The Shadow at the Gate is a good if not better than the first installment and it’s a refreshing wind through the fantasy genre. I mean if it can pull me back into the genre it must be good, because y’all know how I love my boys! ;-) So go pick it up and find out what’s happening in this second part! 

By Lis

Guest Review: The Hawk and His Boy - C.H.Bunn

The Tormay Trilogy, book 1

Genre: Fantasy, YA
Pages: 162, ebook
Published: 2010
Review by Lis

One night in the city of Hearne, a young thief named Jute is instructed to break into a wizard's house and steal an old wooden box. It sounds like a straightforward job. Climb down the chimney, creep through the house, find the thing and get out fast. Unbeknownst to the boy, however, the box contains the knife that killed the Wind. Overcome with curiosity, Jute opens the box and sets off a chain of events that soon has him on the run from the wizard, his old masters in the Thieves Guild, and their client, who happens to be the Lord of Darkness himself. On his odyssey of escape, Jute is aided by an unlikely assortment of friends, including a guilt-ridden assassin, a reluctant wizard, and a hawk who just might be able to teach him how to fly. But the Darkness will do anything to find Jute, even if it means plunging the whole land into war.

------------------

Whoa boy! It's been a while since I came across a fantasy book like The Hawk and His Boy. I was plagued by a little bit of doubt and head scratching before I started this book. Mainly because it has been a while since I read fantasy. But I needn't have worried. This was a refreshing story and well worth time it took to read it!

The Hawk and His Boy  is the first in a trilogy set in a world far far away. This is the story of Jute a thief instructed to steal a box from a wizard with stern instructions not to open the book (remember that one folks? Pandora's box? Anyone?). Of course Jute, who has special abilities that make him an expert thief, opens the box. Well, not quite, it opens for him, but the dam is broken and trouble comes crashing through. Suddenly Jute's world is turned topsy turvy and he's on the run for characters that shady doesn't even begin to describe.

Jute is a very nice, interesting, funky and sympathetic character. He is joined by several other characters including Knife, a wizard and girl from half a world away with the ability to talk to animals. I liked the assortment of characters, but found they sometimes lacked sufficient presence. Fortunately none of the characters are flat, in fact they are nicely filled, though as in all fantasy stories they have a role to play. However, you do have to get used to the head hopping. I found that I've grown used to stories where there is only head hopping between two characters. (Yup, I confess, I'm a romance addict!)

The story itself is not your typical fantasy story, although there is a great evil lurking that just asks to be kicked ass. The story is as refreshing to the genre as water is in the desert.

The world building in this story is exquisite and gives you a good view into the setting that is sometimes not easy to read. The world these characters live in almost made me cry. This is where the sympathy for Jute comes from. This is also a world full of mysteries that has you wondering and your mind scrambling to unravel them!

 Fortunately for us, this book leaves us with a nice ending and not standing on the edge of a humongous cliff. The Hawk and His Boy is most definitely a book I would recommend. Mind you, it's more YA, but it is a good read and I can't wait for the second instalment of the Tormay trilogy!

Thank you Lis!